Olly Hicks

Olly Hicks is the first man to row from the USA to the UK, a feat he achieved at just 23 years old. An exceptional endurance athlete and adventurer, over the years Olly has pushed himself to the limit and he remains the youngest person to ever row solo. Away from the boat he is an inspirational virtual speaker regularly sharing his exciting, and occasionally dramatic, stories from the sea with audiences everywhere.

Undoubtedly Olly’s biggest success so far came when he crossed the North Atlantic Ocean becoming the first-ever sailor to row between the USA and UK. Following the completion of this expedition, Olly was greeted at the finish line by Prince William and Richard Branson who celebrated this achievement with him. Following this, a documentary, Virgin Row, was made about Olly’s exploits winning first prize at the Moscow Film Festival. During his many expeditions, he has faced a whole host of challenges and can expertly transfer his skills from the water into real-life scenarios inspiring audiences along the way.

As a young boy, Olly was obsessed with boats and water so it is no surprise that he’s gone on to spend 2.5% of his life at sea. Other achievements he is managed when rowing include rowing for 96 days between Tasmania and New Zealand, completing a 200-mile kayak row between Norway and the Shetland Islands and he’s also undertaken expeditions in deserts and the Arctic circle.

Now, Olly can be found working as an excellent virtual speaker and in the past, he is conducted speaking events with high-profile businesses such as Google, LinkedIn, and Virgin. One of the highest calibre endurance speakers on the market, he can discuss a range of topics including perseverance, adventure and how to recover from failure. After becoming an intrepid adventurer he is more than capable of wrangling a laptop and has taken to the world of virtual speaking with ease.